Why do Republicans spend so much?
They will never "outsanta" the Democrats; they chase away libertarians and moderates. Worse, they look foolish and duplicitous.
The lead editorial in the WSJ today (paid site, sorry!) claims that they are using Democrat rules and tactics:
One terrible habit is to pass most of the annual federal budget in one, giant, last-minute spending bill. Democrats refined this technique to escape Ronald Reagan's veto scrutiny, but now Republicans use it to stuff their own goodies into corners that might be overlooked by the media and White House.
A solution here is for Republicans to change the current budget rules, which were passed by Democrats in 1974 over a Watergate-weakened President Nixon. Those rules were deliberately designed to obscure the budget process to make it easier to spend, and to reduce Presidential leverage over spending decisions. Republicans denounced them throughout the 1980s, but now they embrace them as tools of incumbent protection.One alternative would be to give the President enhanced rescission authority, which is the power to send individual spending items back to the Congress for an expedited up-or-down vote. This is a relative of the line-item veto, a long-time GOP campaign staple. But earlier this year GOP chairmen of the Appropriations Committee -- aka, the College of Cardinals, or Lords of Lard -- twisted arms to defeat the measure on the floor of the House.
Another useful proposal would give the annual budget "resolutions" the force of law, so that the Members couldn't blow out their spending limits at the end of the year. This too would shift the balance of budget power away from the Appropriators and to the broader House and Senate membership.
With control of the House, Senate and White House, Republicans are now going to be held accountable for Congress's decisions. If they talk like conservatives but spend like Democrats, voters may decide to elect the real thing.